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Sabbat/Guide
If you want to play a Sabbat vampire, we strongly recommend you pick up a copy of Guide to the Sabbat. While V20 has more information on the Sabbat than the previous core rulebooks, it is still very Camarilla-centric. Consequently, some of the Sabbat's practices and ideologies are either skimmed over or left out entirely. Reading V20 and nothing else can leave you with a skewed idea of how the Sword of Caine operates. Here are some of the more common issues we see. 'The Embrace' In the Camarilla, a newly created childe is typically sheltered from the rest of vampiric society until they're ready to be presented. The Sabbat, as a general rule, does not work like this. The majority of fledglings, even mass Embracees that manage to survive their initial suicide mission, are immediately integrated into their sire's pack. Although it varies by clan, many receive instruction (note: "instruction" may take the form of ass kickings for mistakes) from all the other True Sabbat in the pack, not just their sire. Additionally, Sabbat vampires rarely go in the opposite direction and simply abandon their childer. With the exception of the Gangrel, who often observe their childer from a distance at first, sires typically don't leave their progeny to their own devices after the Embrace. Even shovelheads are kept track of, if only to determine if their mission was a success. 'The Pack' As the Guide to the Sabbat puts it, "to the Sabbat vampire, the pack is everything." In the Camarilla, most vampires are independent individuals who make a web of alliances and rivalries with those in their city. Camarilla neonates may band together into a coterie for a specific purpose or to achieve some measure of political safety, but this is entirely up to them. The Sabbat is different. A pack is not a coterie under a different name, and for everyone but powerful elders, it's not optional. We cut new characters some slack here, since not everyone can come in with a group, and it can take some time to find an existing pack that's a good IC and OOC fit. We understand if you're having trouble finding a group, and aren't going to hold that against you. However, your character should not be blase about being packless, and your background shouldn't include long stretches of packlessness. Packs are a foundational part of Sabbat society and ideology. They provide support, guidance, and protection. Sabbat thought puts as much emphasis on the good of the group as on individual free will, and the Vaulderie helps enforce this. This isn't to say that packmates never betray, scheme against, or monomacy each other; they do. The Vaulderie doesn't always mandate total loyalty. However, a pack that can't get along will either split into two separate packs, or get rid of (one way or another...) the problem member. They will not entirely do away with the idea of being in a pack. Treating packs like a choice, even a preferred choice, is akin to regarding freedom as optional, or opposition to the Camarilla and Antediluvians as optional. 'Blood Bonds' Freedom from the blood bond is one of the fundamental tenets of the Sabbat, and one of the reasons it was created. The Vaulderie, in addition to binding packs together, serves the secondary purpose of protecting against the blood bond. While blood bonds and Vinculi share some mechanical similarities, the Sabbat holds that they are categorically different. As the Guide to the Sabbat puts it: "No Sabbat would ever voluntarily succumb to a blood bond, reasoning the such bonds are the tools the elders use to enslave their childer. Rather, the Sabbat swear the Vaulderie to each other, bonding themselves to the pack instead of an individual, and thus, to the Sabbat's greater cause." 'True Sabbat' True Sabbat (n.): A Cainite who received his creation rites and the Sabbat recognizes as a full member of the sect. If you're not True Sabbat, you are not actually considered a vampire by the Sabbat. Period. They understand, of course, that you have fangs and don't breathe, but to them, you're simply a monster. You're not protected by the Code of Milan, and True Sabbat have no compunctions or rules against ordering you around, sending you off to be killed (how else do you think the Sabbat justifies shovelheads?), or anything else. They can torture you because they're bored, stake you because you looked at them funny, or kill you because you mouthed off at them. It is not an easy existence, and certainly not one where you have much leeway to behave poorly. 'Ghouls' To put it mildly, the Sabbat does not treat its ghouls with respect. They're tools, and usually easily replaced tools at that. Many Sabbat - though some clans and individuals are exceptions - look askance at a pack using more than one or two ghouls, if that. (How great of a Cainite can you be, after all, if you need mortal help?) Many Sabbat ghouls don't live more than a few years, at most, and spend that time being yelled at, forced to do illegal and dangerous work, and being beaten whenever their owners are annoyed or bored. While some Tzimisce and Lasombra ghouls do not have this experience, their existences are usually just another variety of hell. 'The Masquerade' If you were to simply ask Random Joe Shovelhead what he thought of the Camarilla's Masquerade, he might - assuming he knew what it was - give you a lot of bluster about how it's bullshit and hiding from the mortals is for pussies. If you were to actually observe him and his packmates, though, you'd see them taking the time to cover their tracks. While they use cruder methods than the careful manipulation and string pulling of the Camarilla, in the end, they make sure the truth doesn't get out. The Sabbat, particularly its leadership, isn't stupid. They know mortals outnumber them and pose a threat. And so, while the Sword of Caine can talk a good game about not hiding from the herd, the unspoken policy is to make sure you do just that. Everyone knows this, and those that don't can expect a dramatically shortened (un)lifespan, courtesy of angry sectmates. Category:Sabbat